Jack and Olivia are Scotland’s top baby names for 2017

Kevin McRoberts

Jack and Olivia are the most popular first forenames for babies whose births were registered in 2017, National Records of Scotland (NRS) has announced today.

Jack was the most popular boys’ name for a 10th consecutive year; Olivia was the top girls’ name for a second year.

The second most popular name for boys was Oliver, which rose from third in 2016 to second in 2017. Harris (which rose six places to seventh) was the only entrant to the boys’ Top Ten (and the fastest climber within the boys’ Top 20), while Charlie (down four places to 14th) dropped out of the Top 10. There were three entrants to the boys’ Top 20: Thomas (up six places to joint 17th), Archie (up two places to 19th) and Rory (up five places to 20th).

Emily remained the second most popular name for girls. Aria (up two places at 10th) was the only entrant to the girls’ Top 10; Lucy (down two places to joint 11th) dropped out of it.

There were two entrants to the girls’ Top 20: Harper (up 12 places to 18th) and Hannah (up five places to 19th).

NRS registered the births of 25,384 boys and 23,935 girls in the period covered by these figures.

Parents chose 3,314 different first forenames for boys and 4,221 different first forenames for girls.

In total, 2,063 boys and 2,767 girls were given first forenames that were unique.

Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop, said:“Naming your baby is such an important decision and it’s always fun to see the names parents around Scotland are choosing.

“This year’s figures show some names have an enduring appeal, with Jack and Olivia confirming themselves as the most popular across Scotland – Jack for the tenth year in a row and Olivia for the second.

“The trend for unique names remains far higher than it has been in previous decades, indicating that today’s parents are thinking long and hard before choosing names for their babies.”